Chapter 4 - T.G.I.F

‘’So…’’ Jea trailed as she stuck her key into her home’s keyhole. The door opened with a familiar sounding click and Jea’s hallway soon came into sight. ‘’What should we watch?’’ I lifted both my shoulders and untied my red Nike Air Blazers before I carelessly kicked them to the side. Jea picked both my shoes up and gave me a disapproving look before she proceeded to store them away more neatly than I had managed to do. Oops.

Chaerin ignored whatever was going on. ‘’What about The Notebook? It’s on Netflix,’’ she offered faux-casually. Jea and I exchanged glances, trying hard not to laugh at her failing attempt to sound unperturbed. Kim Chaerin had seen The Notebook more than she had seen the inside of a textbook. Since Jea and I hadn’t seen and cared for the American directed movie Chaerin would always insist for us to watch it with her, but for some reason we had never bothered to listen to her.

I suppose that for this particular Friday we finally would. 

‘’Fine,’’ both Jea and I agreed. The huge smile on Chaerin’s face didn’t go unnoticed and I could’ve sworn that I saw her secretly pumping her fist in joy. I met eyes with Jea. She too had taken notice of Chaerin’s enthusiasm. She chuckled to herself and opened the door to the living room.

There was nobody home.

I looked around the place, realizing that I hadn’t been here for a long time. The room was decorated slightly different than I was used to and the first thing that immediately stood out to me was that the enormous, normally eye-catching, wedding picture of her parents was gone. Instead we were greeted with an empty bleak wall.

‘’It’s so weird not having anyone around," Chaerin said. ‘’Your mother used to greet us with food the moment we would walk in.’’ I watched Jea once those words had left Chaerin's lips, thinking she might take the comment the wrong way, but she didn’t mind it apparently. Or at the very least she wasn’t showing it.

‘’Where is your brother?’’ I asked Jea, trying to change the subject for no particular reason.

‘’I don’t know,’’ she shrugged. ‘’Probably out until later.'' A big smile started to show on her face. ''I guess we have the kingdom to ourselves!’’

‘’I really missed spending time with you two. It feels like forever since we had a slumber party like this,’’ Jea yawned as she pushed her head through the hole of her yellow sweater. Chaerin and I had already changed into our comfortable clothes. She wore a short blue dress with black leggings underneath. I was wearing a Naruto t-shirt, sport shorts and white thick socks.

Neither Chaerin nor I said anything, but the big smile on our faces said it all; we too had missed all of this. I urged Chaerin to move more to the right of Jea’s bed and made myself comfortable as I pulled the covers up so it covered the both us. Jea started the movie by connecting her laptop to her television through HDMI. After that she plopped on the bed too, snuggling herself up to me as she searched for her rightful place under the quilt. Perhaps the bed was a tad too small for all three of us, but nobody cared about that.

Chaerin was already in tears halfway through the movie. Jea on the other hand tried to keep cool, but I could tell that she was on the verge of crying too. I stared at them, unable to understand what made them so emotional in the first place. The movie up until that point had been touching, sure, but not cry-worthy. Not yet. I tilted my head and watched the television again, but I found myself only caring for the sudden dryness of my throat. ‘’I’m going to grab something to drink downstairs,’’ I told them as I tried to push Chaerin off of me. ‘’Want something too?’’

Jea nodded thoughtlessly, her eyes still very much on the televisionscreen before us, but Chaerin whipped her head to the side. Bemused she yelled: ‘’You can’t leave now! The best part is coming soon!’’ She tried to drag me back to my original spot and I rolled my eyes.

‘’Do you want something to drink... or not?’’ I asked impatiently, pushing her hands away as I tried to crawl over Jea.

‘’Ugh. Fine,’’ Chaerin grumbled. She paused the movie – meaning that she would allow me to get the drinks, but only if I weren’t to miss any part of the film. I closed the door behind me and shook my head dissaprovingly; Kim Chaerin was too much into this film.

It was hard not to take notice of the noises coming from downstairs. Himchan is definitely home, I thought to myself as I took another careful step on the stairs. It was weird we hadn’t heard those noises before, but then I figured that the sound of the television had probably been really loud. The noises became more clear the more steps I took and I caught myself thinking that it was impossible for Himchan to make this type of noise on his own. A mere five seconds later I was proven right; when I entered the living room I was greeted with a total of six boys loudly playing video games.

I knew three of them. One was Yoo Youngjae; my homeroom classmate. The other one was Kim Himchan; Jea’s older brother. The last one I recognized too. It was Jung Daehyun. He wasn’t looking at me. Not at first. But then he looked up and once he laid eyes on me I could tell that he was very surprised to see me here. Youngjae had a similar expression on. The rest of the boys watched me neutrally; like they had already expected someone other than them to be in this house. I figured they must’ve seen the extra shoes in the hallway. Himchan probably told them that his sister was having friends over.

I cleared my throat, not entirely sure what to do or say. They all eyed me expectantly and all of it suddenly made me feel very self-conscious. Especially now that my legs were exposed – Thank God, I had shaved! – and I was wearing my oversized t-shirt and lame sport shorts. The outfit wasn’t very girly nor was it refined.

‘’Um, hi,’’ I brought out awkwardly.

This one boy started to smile widely before his finger pointed at the design on my shirt. ‘’You have an awesome shirt on!’’ He told me, dismissing my greeting of just now. I eyed my attire, not entirely sure what he was referring to, until I laid eyes on the big drawn Naruto on my shirt.

 I smiled, although awkwardly. ‘’Thanks.’’

It was quiet for a moment and I stood sheepishly still in my spot, not entirely sure what was supposed to happen next. In the end I came to seize the silence as I quickly made my way into the kitchen. For some reason I felt really awkward. Especially now that I was acting like I haven’t met Jung Daehyun only one day ago. The least I could’ve done was to properly greet him and acknowledge his existence. The same applied to Youngjae. I saw that boy almost every day. They must have thought that I was conceited for acting like I didn’t know them; and if not conceited than just plainly rude. I stepped further into the kitchen, all the while trying to convince myself that I was overthinking. Yoo Youngjae and Jung Daehyun were probably not thinking about me at all.

My thoughts weren’t on the boys anymore once I opened the fridge and took out the Coco Cola bottle. I placed the bottle on the counter and headed for the cupboards containing the glasses. I hummed a popular Kpop song to myself. The cupboards were quite high so I had to tiptoe to get them

‘’Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise?’’ I heard from behind me. Startled from the unexpected voice, I let go of the glass I was holding. Luckily I caught it just in time again. I clutched the glass to my chest, relieved that I hadn’t broken it, before I looked up. My eyes grew wider at the sight of Jung Daehyun casually leaning against the kitchen's wall. How long had he been standing there? It couldn’t be too long.

‘’Wow. Easy there,’’ he chuckled as soon as he noticed that the glass was safely in my hands. ‘’I didn’t mean to scare you.’’ He laughed and it sounded genuine; loveable with a cute yet surprisingly manly sound.

‘’You did scare me though,’’ I pointed out as I put the unscathed glass on the counter. Jung Daehyun chuckled to himself and I went over to the cupboards to get the remaining two glasses. Fortunately this time I got them without almost breaking them.

A silence hung above our heads and I looked up to see what Daehyun was up to. His eyes were intently on me and I noticed him shamelessly staring at my legs. I wanted to tell him to stop staring because staring is considered rude, but the moment I was about to open my mouth was the exact same moment in which Jung Daehyun permitted his eyes to leave my legs. Now, his eyes were searching for mine. ‘’I… I like your shoes by the way,’’ he mimicked my goodbye of yesterday. There was this brief silence between us and for a second I came to wonder what he meant. But then I figured that he must have seen my shoes in the hallway and that he must’ve linked those shoes to me. I looked away before I actually started to laugh. He laughed too.

‘’Okay. Good one,’’ I admitted impressed.

Jung Daehyun almost made me forget about my reasons for being in the kitchen in the first place, but I remembered once my eyes traveled to the counter and the Coca Cola bottle. I took it and poured its content into the three glasses.

Another person walked into the kitchen. It was his friend, the one who had complimented me on my shirt. His eyes searched for Daehyun and once he found him he said: ‘’What is taking you man?’’

Jung Daehyun shrugged. ‘’Just chatting with…’’ He stopped midsentence. There was this certain look on his face. That's when I realized that he didn’t know my name. How could he not know my name? Choi Yuna mentioned it two times yesterday!

‘’Park Aerin,’’ I filled in for him with an unimpressed look.

‘’Park Aerin,’’ he repeated with a sly smile on his face. ‘’I’m Jung Daehyun by the way.’’

‘’Oh I know,’’ I said too quickly. I tugged my hair behind my ear, not entirely sure how to smooth-talk my way out of this. Still I had to try. Especially upon seeing the funny looks both Jung Daehyun and his friend were giving me. ‘’I… I mean I have heard of you. So, you know… I—‘’ I wasn’t making any sense. The smiling boy realized this too and began to chuckle.

‘’What did you hear?’’ Daehyun asked, dismissing my attempt to speak coherent sentences.

‘’You know… girl talk. That kind of stuff,’’ I trailed unsurely. He seemed amused, perhaps even satisfied with my answer; the same smirked I’ve seen on him yesterday started to show now too. His friend on the other hand didn’t seem all that impressed. Either because he didn’t believe my lame excuse or maybe because he already knew that many girls talked about Jung Daehyun. I couldn’t tell which one it was. All I knew was that I wanted out of this weird situation. I was about to grab the glasses and head upstairs. Jea and Chaerin were probably already wondering what was taking me so long. I stared at the three glasses, contemplating how the hell I was going to carry all three glasses on the same time without breaking or spoiling anything.

‘’You need help?’’ The smiling boy offered. Somehow I was relieved that it was him offering; and not Jung Daehyun. After all, If it had been Jung Daehyun’s offer, it also would’ve been him accompanying me to Jea’s room. There was something unsettling about that prospect. I guess it had to do with Chaerin, because she would surely tease me about him, even if there was nothing going on. She would most definitely do the same with the smiling boy, but somewhere I had this idea that I were to defend myself better if it regarded him.

 ‘’Yeah. Thank you,’’ I accepted his offer.

He nodded and grabbed two glasses for me. I made a grab for the remaining one when I heard him announce his name. ‘’I’m Moon Jongup,’’ he told me with his signature smile.

‘’Park Aerin… but you already knew that by now.’’ And with that being said, I was about to walk out of the kitchen. Moon Jongup closely followed behind me before he cocked his head to look up to Jung Daehyun.

‘’Hyung, don’t forget the snacks,’’ he told him. ‘’That’s why you came in the first place right?’’

Moon Jongup managed to lead the way. He hummed some song to himself and I simply trailed after him, staring at the way his feet moved until they suddenly stopped once on top of the stairs. His halt made me frown, because we still had a few meters ahead of us to Jea’s room. He turned around and I wondered whether he hadn’t been upstairs before; and whether he didn’t know where he was supposed to go because of this.

‘’So… you watch Naruto?’’ He asked out of the blue.

I nodded, amused by the way he had stopped his movements just so he could ask about animation. ‘’Among others.’’

‘’That’s cool.’’ He said. He paused briefly and stepped into the direction of Jea’s door. He knew where her room was after all. Once in front of the closed door he smiled yet another smile and said: ‘’I barely know girls who watch anime.’’ I let out a responsive chuckle and watched him struggle as he attempted to open the door with both his hands occupied. Quickly, I stepped in front of him and opened the door instead.

We hadn’t even stepped in the room for a full second before I could hear Chaerin yell:  ‘’What the heck was taking y–‘’  she stopped her scolding the moment she caught sight of Moon Jongup; which was pretty fast.

‘’I got myself some help,’’ I shrugged calmly.

‘’Hi, Jongup,’’ Jea greeted as she watched him walk further into her room. He said hi to both Jea and Chaerin before he politely asked where he should place the glasses. Jea motioned for him to put them on her nightstand. He quickly did as he was told before he smiled at all three of us and excused himself.

There was a silence and Chaerin made sure to wait a couple of second before she raised a suspicious brow and asked me: ‘’What’s the deal between you two? Do you like him or something?’’

I frowned and scoffed at the same time. ‘’No! How would you even come up with that?’’

She lifted her shoulders casually, in a way that very much told me something along the lines of I should ask to be sure. Jea chuckled amused. ‘’So I guess they’re over again?’’

‘’If you’re referring to your brother’s friends, then yes. They’re downstairs.’’

I was about to take a nonchalant sip of my drink when Chaerin suddenly shrieked, almost causing me to spill my drink. She jumped from the bed and I immediately took her place and sat down. ‘’Wait… Are you saying that Himchan’s friends are downstairs?!’’ She asked as she started tugging on her black legging, trying to undo herself from the piece of clothing.

‘’What the heck are you doing?’’ Jea asked in disbelief.

‘’I’m going downstairs obviously! And this legging looks ridiculous underneath a dress. Not y at all. I need to take it off.’’ Jea and I exchanged glances before the both of bursted out in laughter. Kim Chaerin didn’t realize that she was being ridiculous and what was even worst was that she was death serious about the whole thing!

‘’You guys can laugh all the way you want…’’ she dismissed, ‘’…but I know for a fact that Himchan’s friends are deemed hot and I want to see for myself. Up close.’’

‘’Wah... Amazing…’’ Jea pretended to wipe a tear away as she pushed her covers off of her. ‘’So what are you going to do? Just sit beside them like your part of their group?’’

‘’No of course not. I’ll just pretend that I’m searching for snacks or something while checking them out briefly. Piece of cake.’’

Jea shook her head in disapproval, but the way her smile managed to shine through told me very much that she, too, was amused by the idea. ‘’No way I’m letting you make a fool out of yourself. I’m coming downstairs with you and so is Aerin,’’ she stated matter-of-factly. I watched as she crawled past me and planted her two feet solidly to the ground.

I groused. ‘’Why do I have to come too?’’

One awkward meeting was already embarrassing enough. Jea cocked her head and gave me this look; a look that meant that I had no other choice but to go along with her plan. With a huge sigh I got up from the bed too, all the while secretly rolling my eyes. Jea didn’t care. She smiled in satisfaction. As did Chaerin.

When we got downstairs, I immediately rushed to the kitchen without sparing the boys a proper glance. Jea told me to come downstairs with them and downstairs was exactly where I was, so technically I was being true to my word. Chaerin and Jea hadn’t followed after me and I hadn’t expected them to. I figured that the latter would ask her brother something while Chaerin would stick along so she could check out whatever she wanted to check out in the first place.

I was about to walk further into the kitchen when I heard a familiar voice. Though in a way it wasn’t as familiar, because the voice was raised. I hadn’t heard him raise his voice before. ‘’I’ve never lied to you! I’ve always been clear about us. You knew where you were getting yourself into and–‘’ Jung Daehyun hissed harshly, his Busan accent evident for the first time. He took notice of me and immediately stopped whatever he was about to say to the person on the other end of the line. His facial express stood annoyed, angry even, and for some reason I began to feel out of place. Like I was an intruder; not supposedly to hear any of this.

‘’I’ll talk to you later,’’ he muttered before he hung up. I stood awkwardly still in my spot until I decided to brush this entire thing off. I walked towards the pantry to look occupied; Chaerin’s snack excuse actually proofed itself handy.

‘’You are stalking me,’’ Jung Daehyun pointed out matter-of-factly. It was meant as a joke, perhaps to brush over the somewhat tense atmosphere of just now, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh. Instead I eyed his phone. It was in his hand now.

‘’Don’t flatter yourself,’’ I told him. I didn’t ask about the phone call. I wasn’t in a position to ask about that in the first place, but I would be lying if I were to say that I wasn’t the least bit curious about who he had been talking to.

At some point I really started to look around for snacks. I thoroughly checked the pantry, then the second one. I even opened some cupboards. Jung Daehyun stared at me the whole time I was at it. ‘’There are none, I gave the last bag of chips to the boys and that was all there was,’’ he spoke eventually. I had to refrain myself from rolling with my eyes; couldn’t he have said so earlier?

‘’Oh. Thanks for telling me from the beginning,’’ I responded dryly. Daehyun laughed. Widely and quite loud too. It made me laugh too until I heard footsteps against the laminated floor. Not two seconds later both Jea and Chaerin emerged from the living room.

‘’You won’t find anything. I asked Himchan and he said there was nothing left,’’ Jea announced. I sighed; she too was late with telling me about this. Then, her eyes managed to flicker from mine to somewhere else. That’s when she registered that Jung Daehyun was present too. ‘’Oh Daehyun, what are you doing here?’’ In her head she was doing some sort of math, I could tell by the way her eyes narrowed as she allowed them to rest on me and then Jung Daehyun and then me again. Chaerin on the other hand couldn’t help but to look amused by the sight of us laughing together.

‘’I was making a phone call.’’ He showed his phone and Jea simply nodded before she tilted her head and focused on me entirely. There was this certain smile on her face as he looked at me; one I knew all too well.

‘’Aerinnnnn…’’ she trailed sweetly. She batted her eyelashes dramatically as a bonus and I sighed out loud before I asked her what the hell she wanted from me now. She folded her hands pleadingly. In an awfully sweet voice she asked: ‘’You wouldn’t want to drop by the convenience store to buy some snacks by any chance?’’

The nerve this girl had sometimes.

I raised both my brows. ‘’You must be joking. Now? Alone?’’ I knew Jea was lazy; she always was when it came to snack buying. Once Kim Jea got herself comfortable, she just refused to leave the house to do anything. Consequently, it was always me who got to do the snack buying. Normally I would go with Chaerin, but right now she looked like she had no intention of leaving with me. I gave her a look.

‘’Look how short and ugly my dress is! At least you look decent!’’ Chaerin protested in defense. I eyed my attire. She must be joking. ‘’With a jacket over it, it looks totally fine,’’ she quickly bargained.

I had forgotten about Jung Daehyun, until he laughed over our meaningless quarrel. I looked up at him briefly, not in the least amused. Yet another sigh escaped my lips but as I looked at the pleading eyes of both Jea and Chaerin I found myself giving in to them for reasons I couldn’t explain. I figured a quick walk to the store wasn’t all too bad. Besides, this way I was hundred percent sure that I got the snack I actually wanted; and the right brand at that too. Chaerin and Jea both looked satisfied with my unexpected agreement.

They were the absolute worst.

‘I’ll go with you…’’ Jung Daehyun announced suddenly, surprising all of us in the room. ‘’I own you anyway. See you in the hallway, yeah?’’ He muttered the last part and before I, or someone else, could say something he had disappeared.

‘’You… know Jung Daehyun, Aerin?’’ Chaerin asked me surprised. 

"Sort of. I’m off,’’ I tried to shrug casually. If I were to be completely honest I wanted to make a run for it. More so to avoid these types of questions, because when Chaerin would be the one asking them it would go from you know him? to you like him? to you like him! really quickly. Chaerin didn’t give me the chance to run however. Within an instant she had grabbed my wrist and turned me around so I would look at her.  

She searched for my eyes and once she found them she made sure to gaze at them for an unpleasantly long time. At some point she let go of my wrist. ‘’He’s handsome,’’ she said. ‘’Don’t forget to tell us everything when you’re back.’’ I just rolled my eyes at her in response. Just moments ago she had this crazy thought that I liked Moon Jongup and not even half an hour later she was looking at me as if I had something going on with Jung Daehyun.

When I finally entered the hallway Jung Daehyun was already ready to leave. His shoes and jacket were already on and he was leaning against the wall, his eyes on his mobile phone. He looked up at some point. Our eyes met and he looked at me with an expression that very much inquired whether we could go already.

‘’One moment. I have to put on jeans,’’ I paused a moment. ‘’And bring my wallet.’’ I was about to head for the stairs, but he halted me.

‘’Where are you going?’’ He asked with raised brows.

‘’I’m going to grab my jeans, bag and wallet real quick,’’ I repeated impatiently. I had just told him this. Was he not listening to me?

‘’No need,’’ he dismissed. ‘’Let’s just go. I will take care of it.’’

‘’How will you take care of my legs?’’ I asked him with a restless frown. It was the end of September and I was wearing shorts. Admittedly it wasn’t that cold yet, but since it was already turning late the temperature had gradually decreased as well.

 ‘’You can wrap your legs around me.’’ He told me dead serious. Or at least his face stood dead serious. I blinked, not entirely sure what the hell to say to this.

‘’W- what?’’

''I’m joking,’’ he laughed dismissively. ‘’And it's not long to the store. I promise you won't get cold.''

''I won't get cold? It is winter!''

‘’Autumn,’’ he corrected with a smirk.

‘’That’s the same thing!’’ I protested.

He laughed and shook his head. Clearly it was not the same thing, that much I knew too, but it certainly felt the same; it was too cold for shorts. ''Do something crazy in your life,'' he practically ordered. I was about to protest yet again, but he gave me this stern look that told me to obey him and for some reason I found myself giving in. Again.

‘’Uh… okay. Whatever you want.’’ Perhaps he was right. Perhaps I should do more crazy things in my life. I was a relatively safe girl; a rational thinker. I always had been.  

With a sigh I put on my sneakers. I was about to grab my jacket when I became conscious of the fact that we were wearing the same shoes. I had already seen the Nike’s on him when I had entered the hallway just now, but I had honestly forgotten that I was wearing mine today. My eyes kept shifting between mine and his shoes and he laughed once he took notice of that.

It wasn’t as cold outside as I had expected. Still, I felt like my legs were freezing. I got cold pretty easily and right now I hated Chaerin for saying that my outfit had been perfectly fine, because it wasn’t. I also hated Jung Daehyun for suggesting to do something crazy; this wasn't crazy it was plainly stupid. The road to the nearest convenience store wasn’t long. Ten minutes at most, though it took us only six minutes to get there. We had small talked on our way up, our red Nike Air Blazers had been in perfect sync the entire time, and it was nice; all the talking temporarily made me forgot about how cold I actually felt. The shop wasn’t packed, in fact we were the only ones in there besides the elder shop lady. She smiled a genuine wide smile when she spotted us. I caught her eyeing our shoes and I could’ve sworn that her smile became even brighter.

‘’What do you want?’’ Jung Daehyun suddenly asked me, interrupting my thoughts about the shop lady. I looked around and realized I was bad in deciding what I want. Whenever I would see this much choices I would become totally clueless about what to pick. Usually Chaerin would pick the snacks. I would simply go along with whatever she and Jea wanted.

‘’I… uh...’’ I trailed as I eyed all the different choices: candy, crisps, pastries. The possibilities were endless. Jung Daehyun chuckled at the sight of my eyes growing bigger every time I saw something delicious.

‘’Just look around,’’ he told me once he realized I couldn’t come up with an answer right away.

And as Jung Daehyun told, I did. I walked through the shop searching for snacks I knew the girls would like. In the end I grabbed two bags of Lay’s chips and searched for Jung Daehyun. I spotted him in the sweets section. I walked towards him and placed the items in the basket he had gotten himself earlier. It was already full with lots of snacks and drinks and it made me wonder how much his friends consumed exactly.

Jung Daehyun eyed the products on top of his basket and with a suspicious frown he asked me: ‘’That’s it?’’ I nodded. He was the one paying and I didn’t want to go crazy on him even when he thought I should. It was already nice enough of him to join me and to pay for everything. I couldn’t stop my eyes from wandering to the isle with soft gums however. It was a pity I wasn’t allowed to bring my wallet, because if I had my own money I would’ve taken something for myself too.

‘’What do you want?’’ He asked as he looked at me with his piercing eyes.

‘’Oh, I don’t want–‘’

‘’Quit the lying. I saw you eyeing the sweets like a cute little kid just now. It is okay really, grab whatever you want,’’ he interrupted me with a kind smile. I pressed my lips together as I allowed his words to sink in. Was it me or did he call me cute?

Shrugging, I grabbed a bag of my favorite soft gums and put it in his basket. Jung Daehyun seemed satisfied with this and I started to grab more and more until the basket was piled up with my gums. It was too much really, but I was just playing anyway.

‘’Satisfied?’’ I asked deviously.

He laughed out loud, simultaneously shaking his head in disapproval of me. ‘’Now you’re just going overboard.’’ Smiling, I placed the gums back in its original place, leaving only one in Jung Daehyun’s basket. He chuckled to himself before he walked away to pay. I followed after him, observing the products in his basket. There were a lot of things and I felt guilty for letting him pay for basically everyone in the house.

The sky had turned a tint darker once we stood outside again. I glanced over Jung Daehyun; or more specifically the bags in his hands. They looked really heavy and I figured that it probably was heavy given that he was also carrying a bunch of drinks with him. I was tempted to offer him my help, but the way he firmly held onto the bags somehow told me that the alpha male within him wanted to carry the heavy load himself.

At some point we walked past a playground. It was funny how I hadn’t taken notice of it on our way up to the convenience store. Whenever I was with Chaerin we would always take a break on this playground; mostly to piss of Jea so she had to wait longer for her snacks. However, this time I hadn’t noticed it. Probably because I had been so engrossed in the small talk with the male that was Jung Daehyun. The same male who suddenly began to walk towards the said playground.  He settled himself on the swing and I simply stared at him, not entirely sure why he was stopping and more importantly what he was doing.

‘’Let’s take a short break,’’ he said. He closed his eyes for a tiny bit. ‘’The bags are heavy and you aren’t exactly helping.’’ I looked at him with a dumb look on my face. Obviously I had misjudged him; he did for a fact want my help!

‘’I thought I would hurt your pride,’’ I admitted honestly, settling myself on the swing too. The seat felt cold against the thin material of my short, but I decided to ignore it and instead watched how Jung Daehyun swung himself higher and higher.

‘’Oh, you would.’’

I frowned in confusion. Jung Daehyun was this sort of mystery to me. Something about him was very charming. He was easy-going, funny, straight-forward and a bit arrogant all at once. He had this ability to bring light to any type of atmosphere and just being with him was weirdly pleasant. I suppose that a lot of that had to do with the fact that he was a mood maker and as I looked at him again – he was swinging like a little kid who had absolutely no care in the world – and watched him smile I concluded that I was right; he was a mood maker. We swung in silence for a couple of seconds. It wasn’t awkward. Just pleasant. ‘’So how do you know Jea?’’ He suddenly asked me.

‘’I know her since middle school. I’ve always been very close with Chaerin. We were this duo ever since we met through our moms. Jea joined the pack later and we became this trio. We still are.’’

He nodded and then told me how he became friends with Youngjae. Apparently Youngjae had lived in the same neighborhood Jung Daehyun had moved to from Busan and the two became acquaintances and eventually friends. Youngjae was acquainted with Himchan who was friendly with another guy from their current group. From there they all became friends eventually.   

 ‘’Time to go. You're obviously freezing.’’ He got off the swing and planted his feet to the ground. I felt strangely disappointed with the end of our break – even when I was for a fact freezing. I slowly got off my swing too and watched him grab the bags with our stuff. He walked ahead of me and I simply trailed after him before I picked up my speed and took one of the bags from him with a smile that was supposed to tell him that I was fine carrying something too. The interaction made our hands touch briefly and Jung Daehyun watched me in amusement; his signature smirk gracing his lips for a split second.

I suppose that for just this once he would allow his pride to hurt.